Backing Brilliance – Facebook and the art of promoting Theatre

Last week – or a couple of Mondays ago I attended a very informative SAMAG Seminar called SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE ARTS… (For those keen to find out what SAMAG is click here.… )

It’s a fact that the theatre community relies on Facebook and Twitter and other social media to market their shows. So it’s of little surprise and with great delight that the Australia Council have tapped into this contemporary world and conducted some research into the effectiveness of Social Media in the promotion of the Arts. And their study/website can be found here.

It’s true that I am an avid/voracious facebook user/consumer. I use it as a means of updating people on me/my thoughts, as a means of networking, advertising, promoting, provoking, spruiking and distributing information. I like it because it is visual – and becomes a hub in which I can generate discussion/rants or even share something funny, or soulful or artistically gratifying. (Yes – there are Phil Collins film clips distributed amongst my Facebook friends).

It’s also handy as a means of feeling connected. As a freelance “working from home” artist – it can be very reassuring to witness that at 2am in the middle of some writing , there is another artistic obsessive online… not as a means of distraction – no need to even chat or acknowledge – but seeing friends online and working can be instantaneously reassuring and inspiring.

I am not surprisingly, friends on Facebook with the BIENNALE of SYDNEY… and last week they opened up and asked Via facebook –

BOS:”so, it’s social media day today huh? Great time to get some feedback from the digital universe … Got any feedback for us? What do you think we’ve been doing well and what do you think we could do more of?”

AUGUSTA: Isn’t everyday social media day? After all the digital universe doesn’t sleep, or obey a calendar…

(Three people liked this)

(And there were some posts from other folk. And I continued…)

AUGUSTA: BoS Facebook could be a great place for discussion around art in Australia, infact Lynda Kelly from the OZ museum said at the SAMAG panel at OZCO on Monday said “blog is the meat, twitter is the advertising and facebook is the conversation” – I’d love the Biennale to host some conversations with their FB buddies.

Ten years ago, that kind of feedback/interaction between a punter (me) and the organisation (BoS) would have been very minimal. Now it is fast and immediate. There is the ability for arts organisations and artists to have conversations online. Which is great. It’s also tricky to manage all those relationships – to manage media and not let it manage you.

It seems everyday I have friedns changing their FB profile pictures to the flyer for their show (infact its what I encourge my co-creators to do when we are working on a show – for Stories From the 428 it gave the project a potential visibility of 20,000 people)… plus was great in creating a community feel on a 100 person project. In addition to this, I am in the extremely fortunate position of being invited to lots of shows, and on a daily basis 15-20 event invitations appear. Which can be a little overwhelming.. so what can help this?

The answer is very simple, yet very time consuming –

Personal Emails or FB Messages. Direct personal contact – and then follow up. It takes time, but it is worth it. And also I think making sure people talk about your show. (previews can be great – paper them when and how you can)

And then the responsibility falls on the audience to promote your work. In fact, I believe blowing your own trumpet is not as effective as letting someone else blow it for you. I watch Facebook – I watch as shows open – I watch who is saying what about which shows – there are some I trust more than others – but I am watching. It’s online word of mouth and it is powerful and compelling. Companies and artists who have figured out how to harness the collective imagination of FB do this really well – Kate Revz is onto it, so too is the Griffin Theatre Company.

but also, let’s remember that with power to crowd source audiences at our facebooking fingertips, we also must be mindful of being the boy that cried wolf – if you love it, say so… if you didn’t you should also say so. You should never pretend to like something. Art is not a charity. Art is to be debated and deconstructed and celebrated and damned and opposed and elevated. The Australian Arts industry should be robust enough to withstand grand criticism and personal response…

“You should never pretend to like something. Art is not a charity” that’s interesting, as i often find it difficult to articulate the reasons why i do or don’t like something. Often i don’t like to be too critical because i sometimes think that the problem may be with me rather than with the show itself. And then there’s the old saying, “if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say it….”.
For example, do you ever find that you don’t like something but it has more to do with the fact that you are in a bad mood or something? That happened to me recently i turned up in a last minute rush to a show at one of my subscriptions and found that i was flustered, tired and was falling asleep in the first half of the play thus not paying close attention. So i really felt that i did not appreciate the play in the same way i may have if i was relaxed, energetic and more interested to begin with. I suppose that is the problem with having a subscription and choosing your dates ahead of time, (this year is the first year i have had any subscriptions).

I think there is absolutely no shame in not knowing how to articulate your response to art – but failure to even attempt to articulate something, is a tragedy.

I believe all Art is a conversation.

The most important things to remember for anyone seeing theatre (regardless artists themselves or curious/dedicated punters) is this:

because art is a conversation – be a good conversationalist (be a good audience member).

Practice being a good conversationalist.

Being a good audience involves a few key things –

1. Be relaxed and not flustered when you are about to see someone’s show. It has taken them years to reach this point in their practice and they deserve not to have a tough crowd just because parking is a nightmare/trains don’t run on time.

2. Don’t take out your week on a play. So you’ve broken up with your partner, your dog died, your rent’s overdue, you hate your boss and the pad thai before your show was cold. So what. Leave it at the door of the theatre. Give yourself permission to surrender to and enjoy the experience.

3.Don’t go to the theatre drunk or hung over. I regard the act of making and consuming theatre like that of operating heavy machinery – it’s a big deal – as it should be, it has the capacity to change your thinking (and I think your mind is a major machine).. being drunk/hungover/on drugs inhibits and distorts thinking – and that makes the transformative moments of theatre so much harder if you are distracted like that.

4. Never sit down in a theatre seat unless you know FOR CERTAIN you don’t need to go to the bathroom for the length of the performance.

5. Make sure you have something to eat – being hungry when watching theatre (especially theatre involving cooking on stage) CAN BE TORTURE!!!)

6. Never forget the artists need you and can feel you – they may act like you’re not there, but they are keenly aware of everything on stage and in the audience. As such it is your responsibility to make sure you are utterly present. You are important in your attendence.

After all art is a conversation – and you want to be an equal participant. The artists want you to engage with their work.

I think these handy tips might be the basis of a good newspaper article for you. I’m sure a lot of people will relate to the experience of sitting in an audience with other things on their mind…very good advice!

One must careful, if one works in the relatively tiny Sydney theatre industry, when throwing around your critiques of people you may hope to work with in the future. As Stephen Dunne once said to me when I was reviewing for City Hub and had offended some friends with a brutal yet honest review – you’ve either got to be a playwright or a critic but you can’t be both because an honest critic will burn too many bridges. I don’t know but he may have a point there. What do you think Gus?

We must be careful not to flatter for the sake of political favour (flattery is an opiate of the deeply insecure)

We must be careful not to let ego or taste or temperament get in the way of engaging with works.

We must be careful. I agree.

It is a huge responsiblity to back something/someone.

But it must be done.

It is tough being seen as a critic. And it’s even tougher being a critic and an artist. But for me, I see my writing about theatre as important as my making of theatre – they are two halves of the same thing (which is theatre).

I don’t agree with Stephen Dunne (historically this has always been the case) about the eithe/or. I just think it’s about being courteous, articulate, generous, honest and brave.

I’ve been reviewing work since 2007 and I have worked with over 400 artists since then… I find no need to be brutal, but I am always honest.

I think.

What do you think of that response, Benito? Keen to brutally critique it?

Augusta Supple

Sydney-based theatre director, producer and writer. This site is about my long, deep, bright-eyed, ever-hopeful, sometimes difficult, always invigorating, rambunctious, rebellious, dynamic and very personal relationship with Australian Arts and Culture... I reflect on shows, talks, essays, writing, artists that inspire me to say something, and you'll find out what I'm working on, who I'm working with and what inspires me.